Three byes are always something you want coming in to a Grand Prix, and Grand Prix Singapore is no exception. GP Trial events have been running throughout the region for the past few months, with first prize being the much-coveted trio of wins. For those who had yet to earn their byes, the traditional Grand Prix trials were running hot last night, their spots filling up quickly as players queued for the opportunity at a leg up in the main event. The winning decklists of the five trials you ask? Well, I have them right here!

While you’d expect everyone reading this to know at least a little bit about Extended, it’s a fair assumption that not everyone is going to be on the same page. I know for a fact that my friends Jen and Martin are reading along at home, and they know practically nothing about the game! So with that in mind, I’ve summed up the key decks in the format at the moment. Although being able to understand what I’m blathering on about here may still end up being a bit of a stretch for Jen and Martin, I trust they’ll give it a go anyway, and with any luck, this will be of some help to some of you as well.

Faeries: Unlike the Standard version of this control strategy, Extended Faeries seldom run any Black cards, which means Bitterblossom is off sulking in a corner somewhere. Being mostly mono-blue, with access to a few Dual Lands via their Sac Land friends to help power up Engineered Explosives, this deck often has more Wizards than Faeries. This is because Venser, Shaper Savant and Trinket Mage tend to skew the numbers slightly by being Human Wizards, rather than flighty wee Faeries. The real back-bone of this deck comes from Riptide Laboratory, which give Spellstutter Sprite a great deal more range than usual, thanks to the generally low mana curve found in Extended.

Next Level Blue: This is basically Faeries, with less of them and a great deal more Tarmogoyfs. Four more Tarmogoyfs, to be precise. With fewer Faeries, Next Level Blue also tends to run more Spell-based Counterspells. This helps in one of the tougher match ups for Blue decks, Affinity. Their unusually high mana costs tend to render things like Spellstutter Sprite quite ineffective, and the Fat Green Man really carries his weight here.

Naya Burn: While Wild Nacatl sees next to no play in Standard, it shines here with a single Sacred Foundry satisfying both criteria for the Nacatl to be upgraded from a Medium to a Large. Together with Kird Ape and other assorted cheap beaters, the Nacatl takes people into burn range as quickly as possible, before the burn spells come online, seeking to finish off the happy meal the animals started.

Gaea’s Might get there: Although I guess it should be called Might of Alara get there now? I dunno. Another deck that functions solely because of the incredible mana bases available in Extended. This deck is basically a greedier version of Naya Burn, and instead of a wealth of burn spells, manages to back up the Kird Apes and Wild Nacatls with the likes of Tidehollow Skuller and the decks name-sake, an Instant Speed +5/+5 for a single Green mana. The degrees of greediness can vary, often up as far as the double-strikers Viashino Slaughtermaster and Boros Swiftblade to really get value out of the Mights.

Bant Aggro: Was touted as The New Deck at Pro Tour Berlin for all of two seconds before The Worst Kept Secret, Elves stomped all over it. Now that the Elves are being kept in check, Bant Aggro is having some time in the sun, combining the new and beefy Rhox War Monk with the old and tasty Umezawa’s Jitte, with a smattering of countermagic thrown in to throw people off.

TEPS: The Extended Perfect Storm is, as the name suggests, a Storm count combo deck. The fundamental turn for this deck can be as early as two or three, but is usually around turn four, where it will explode with a flurry of mana accelerants before dropping a Minds Desire on the table for a bunch. The kill card of choice is usually a Tendrils of Agony, but can easily be an Empty the Warrens. I’ve even seen people on Magic Online packing Dragonstorm as an answer to Stifle and Trickbind. A single Dragonstorm can still drop a 5/5 on you that will eat a fair amount of the board before eating your face.

Affinity: Many would have thought that Affinity would be a deck that received no help from sets these days, after it had caused the banning of the Artifact lands in Standard all those years ago. However, those tricksie Esper Mages have managed to sneak a few new weapons across the boarder to Affinity, who is even now, still riding strong with Master or Etherium and battling Combo decks with Ethersworn Canonist.

Elves: The fastest deck in the format, but also the most fragile. The Elves combo deck still manages to exist in the same way that Affinity does. If everyone is packing hate for it, it will stay down, but as the results for either deck wane, so will the sideboard cards dedicated to hating them out. Elves can suffer from splash damage somewhat, with cards that are good against them also being good enough to maindeck anyway, such as Engineered Explosives. With Elves taking out the top spot last weekend in Hanover, it seems unlikely that people will be caught out by the Mini Green Menace this weekend.

AggroLoam: And this is the corner Bitterblossom is sulking in. This deck first appeared in straight Green/Black flavors in the hands of Mike Jacob who piloted it into the top 8 of GP: LA at the start of this year. Since then, it has been seen packing some White cards as well, for the impressive Knight of the Reliquary and Path of Exile. This is probably the deck with the most late game inevitability thanks to Life of the Loam, powering up Raven’s Crime and Eventually Worm Harvest.

And now, on to the tournament itself. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even added a new archetype or two to that list before we’re done this weekend.

Saturday, March 21: 11:53a.m. – Round 3: Quick Questions

by Ray “blisterguy” Walkinshaw

What is the best deck in Extended right now?

Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa

“I Hope Faeires.”

Brian Kowal

“Loam, not even close.”

Olivier Ruel

“I don’t know, not Affinity.”

Gaudenis Vidugiris

“I don’t know, probably Zoo.”

Shouta Yasooka

“Blue control, with Tarmogoyfs. Next Level Blue.”

Shuuhei Nakamura

“Elves or (Minds) Desire.”

Saturday, March 21: 12:23p.m. – Round 4: Ruel vs. Vidugiris

by Ray “blisterguy” Walkinshaw

What a powerhouse of a feature match to start off the weekend. With the byes wearing off this round, the Big Guns are finally entering the fray. On my left we have Olivier Ruel, Hall of Fame inductee in 2008, and on my right, Gaudenis Vidugiris, Lithuanian national team member last year, and finalist in last weekends Grand Prix Hanover.

Ruel lost the roll, dropping a Breeding Pool into play tapped, that Vidugiris matched by searching one out with his Polluted Delta. Ruel went for an Engineered Explosives for two, but Vidugiris Repealed it before suspending an Ancestral Visions and passing the turn back. Ruel’s Vedalken Shackles met a Condescend, so he followed that up with a Chalice of the Void for Zero. Using his Miren, the Moaning Well, Vidugiris played an Engineered Explosives of his own, paying one mana but making sure it would be able to take out the opposing Chalice. When Vidugiris went to pop the Chalice at the end of Ruel’s turn, the hall of Famer tried to save it with a Cryptic Command, but that was countered by a Mana Leak. Vidugiris’s Ancestral Visions was one turn away from refilling his hand, so he was content to sit on that and see what Ruel had. What he had was another Chalice for zero, which resolved. He then tried for another Chalice, this time for one, which also resolved. Vidugiris bounced the counterless Chalice with a Cryptic Command, untapped and resolved his Visions, and following that up with a Tarmogoyf. Ruel replayed his Chalice, but this time for two, and then an Engineered Explosives for two, spending Blue, Green and Colorless from his Ancient Ruins. With Ruel tapped out, Vidugiris allowed that to resolve, and made an explosives of his own for zero, not needing any colorless mana this time, and wiping the Chalices out to keep his Tarmogoyf online. Ruel went for a Tezzeret the Seeker, but that was countered. When he tried to bounce the Tarmogoyf with a Cryptic Command, Vidugiris countered that as well with one of his own, and the Tarmogoyf trundled in to take Game 1.

Vidugiris 1 – Ruel 0

Vidugiris had the first play of Game 2, suspending a turn one Ancestral Visions and then taking 3 from his Sac-land and Dual land combo to drop a turn two Tarmogoyf. Ruel caught it with a Spell Snare, and used the window to play a Vedalken Shackles on his turn. Vidugiris continued to whittle away at his life total by fetching out the lands he needed, while Ruel watched the Visions count down.

“Are you going to resolve two of these this match?” He asked with a chuckle, before trying to counter it with a Cryptic Command. Sure enough, Vidugiris had one of his own to earn his three cards, and backed that up with an Engineered Explosives for zero. With Vidugiris now tapped low, Ruel played out a Future Sight, as in the card, not the set, revealing a Tezzeret on top of his library. His next draw revealed a Cryptic Command on top, but with only six mana, he couldn’t use it to force anything through, and instead played a Tapped Tolaria West and passed it back. Vidugiris could only play lands and pass, hoping Ruel would play something his Explosives could remove. Ruel’s next turn revealed a Thirst for Knowledge.

A judge was called in to confirm if Ruel got to see the next card while playing a Breeding Pool off the top before deciding if he wanted it tapped or untapped. The decision was that the land was either in the library or in play, so he didn’t get the additional information. A Pithing Needle came down on Engineered Explosives, but a Chalice for two was Mana Leaked while Ruel had four mana open. Ruel Shrugged and Spell Snared it, and then paid his remaining three mana into the subsequent Mana Leak. The Chalice resolved, but Ruel was tapped out at least. Vidugiris untapped, but scooped up his cards with a grin, realizing there was no way he could catch up with the Future Sight.

Vidugiris 1 – Ruel 1

Vidugiris began the deciding game with a pair of colorless lands and a Sac-land, which would help with playing around Chalice of the Void if that came up again. Ruel could only make a Pyrite Spellbomb on turn three while fine tuning his mana with Sac-lands of his own. When Vidugiris finally cracked his Flooded Strand, Ruel was ready with a Stifle. Vidugiris stalled on lands momentarily while Ruel began the beatdown with a Trinket Mage and powered out a turn five Tezzeret after cycling away his Spellbomb. However, Vidugiris had found another Sac-land, and countered the Planeswalker with a Condescend. He suspended an Ancestral Visions on his turn and played a Polluted Delta. Between the Sac-lands and the Trinket Mage, he was already on 12 life. A fifth land from Vidugiris and not much else prompted Ruel to drop an End of Turn Vendilion Clique, only to have Vidugiris respond with one of his own. Vidugiris took a Future Sight from Ruel, leaving Tezzeret and Engineered Explosives, and then Mana Leaked Ruel’s Clique. The Trinket Mage attacked in again, and Vidugiris let it run past his Clique, dropping him to 9. Ruel then main phased another Clique to clear the air, this time filtering his own hand, before refilling it with a Thirst for Knowledge. A Pithing Needle came down for Ruel, shutting down Vidugiris’s Mutavault and allowing the Trinket Mage to drop him to 6. Vidugiris stopped another Tezzeret with a Cryptic Command, but was still having trouble preventing the Trinket Mage from walking all over him. A second Pithing Needle shut down Miren, the Moaning Well, and another Cryptic Command countered yet another Tezzeret. Vidugiris finally resolved his Ancestral Visions, Repealing a Chalice for Zero in response to the trigger, and then tapping out for Meloku, the Clouded Mirror as time in the round was called.

Ruel returned his Pyrite Spellbomb to the top of his library with Ancient Ruins, and then attacked into Meloku with the Mage. Meloku was pushed in front of the Mage, but Ruel decided against finishing off the Legend, instead saving the Spellbomb for some face time in the near future with Vidugiris on a mere 4 life. Vidugiris untapped and considered his options. Ruel was at 16 and he had only two turns left to try and finish him off, but more pressing was the Pyrite Spellbomb that was going to kill him first. A Tarmogoyf from Vidugiris was Spell Snared, and the Spellbomb dropped him to 2. Ruel returned it again during his upkeep, but after he had drawn for the turn, a timely Vendilion Clique sent the Spellbomb to the bottom of his deck before he had priority to play it.

“Trinket, Trinket, Trinket,” Ruel chanted with a grin as he drew for the Clique, instead finding a Cryptic Command. Vidugiris attacked Ruel down to 9. At the end of Vidugiris’s Ruel tried to bounce one of Vidugiris’s Breeding Pools with Cryptic Command, trying to draw into a Trinket Mage, but Vidugiris fizzled it with Meloku. “Oh, good play,” Ruel replied with a nod. When the top of his deck didn’t reveal anything to finish Vidugiris off, the match ended in a Draw.

Vidugiris 1 – Ruel 1

Saturday, March 21: 2:16p.m. – Round 5: Quick Questions

by Ray “blisterguy” Walkinshaw

Do you play-test on Magic: Online?

Shuuhei Nakamura

“I try to, but I’m only home in Japan a few days at a time, so not enough time to do it.”

“We play all the time,” Brazil’s Paulo Vitor Damo de Rosa said with a grin as he sat down across from Grand Prix Kitakyuushuu 2007 champion, Junya Iyanaga. “Worlds, Kyoto and twice in Bangkok.”

Iyanaga won the roll a got the ball rolling with a Windswept Heath, searching out a Temple Garden to play a turn one Nettle Sentinel. Da Rosa replied with a tapped Breeding Pool, taking 2 from the Nettle Sentinel before it was untapped by a Llanowar Elves. Iyanaga only had the one land however, and his follow up Elvish Visionary was stopped by a Spell Snare, before da Rosa cleared the board with an Engineered Explosives for one. Iyanaga tried to rebuild with a Birchlore Rangers, but they were stolen by a Sower of Temptation, and a Spellstutter Sprite countered another Llanowar Elves. Da Rosa had complete control of the game, and was crashing into the red zone with his fliers. Iyanaga’s Elves combo deck had been thwarted largely by the turn two Spell Snare and the turn three Explosives, the rest was merely a formality.

de Rosa 1 – Junya Iyanaga 0

Iyanaga lead with a tapped Overgrown Tomb, and his turn two Hivemaster was again stopped by a Spell Snare from de Rosa. A second turn Vendilion Clique off of a Chrome Mox hampered Iyanaga’s draw further, but this time he at least had the lands he needed to play out his team, another Wirewood Hivemaster gumming up the board with Elves and Insects. De Rosa dug for a fourth mana with Thirst for Knowledge while swinging in with his Clique, not finding a land but managing to at least find a Threads of Disloyalty for the Hivemaster. Iyanaga replaced it with another one, giving de Rosa an Insect Token of his own. He then stole the second Hivemaster with another Threads. Meanwhile, Iyanaga was still swinging with the Insects he had made prior to de Rosa’s larceny, dropping the Brazilian to 8. De Rosa finally found an Engineered Explosives and played it for one, accidentally putting the die he was using for an Insect Token on it, which Iyanaga graciously pointed out. With the Hivemasters now on de Rosa’s side of the table, Iyanaga’s assault faltered. Soon enough the Brazilian had found an Umezawa’s Jitte, which the Clique carried over the top to clean up the stragglers.

Paulo Vitor Damo de Rosa defeats Junya Iyanaga 2 – 0

Saturday, March 21: 4:46p.m. – Round 7: Quick Questions

by Ray “blisterguy” Walkinshaw

What to you use for Tokens?

Sam Black

“Whatever I can get my opponent to give me to use.”

Martin Juza

“Token cards from boosters.”

Olivier Ruel

“If I’m planning on making tokens, I try to bring random things to represent them, otherwise I try to draw them on a piece of paper.” (Olivier was spotted yesterday drawing one on the palm of his hand and using his hand as a token.)

Shuuhei Nakamura

“Pro Player cards, Kenji Tsumura!”

Brian Kowal

“Dice.”

Manuel Bucher

“If I’m making a Broodmate Dragon token, something Red, Faerie tokens I try to use the Faerie tokens from boosters. I’d love to see the Pro Player cards come back, they were the coolest tokens.”

Saturday, March 21: 5:11p.m. – Round 7: A quick word with the dealers

by Ray “blisterguy” Walkinshaw

I wandered down the back of the room to check out how the dealers were going today, to see what’s hot and what was not. Lionel Yuen from Card Master was more than happy to fill me in. Not surprisingly, Path to Exile has sold very well, with most decks capable of playing White spells finding room for at least a few copies of the new Swords to Plowshares variant. The surprising big seller has been Future Sight, as in the enchantment from Onslaught, not the set containing Tarmogoyf. “I’ve sold probably twenty or so between Friday night and Saturday morning,” Lionel explained. Even more surprisingly, he’s sold several playsets of the Time-shifted Fire Whip from Time Spiral and Weatherlight, to some of the Japanese players, presumably for Elves sideboards.

But what hasn’t been selling as well as expected? “Sac-lands and Shock lands, it seems that most people already have them all, or just aren’t willing to spend the money on them.” There was one card that caught the guys at Card Master off guard, several people have asked for Thrill of Hunt, but didn’t bring any with them to sell. Thrill has been big in the Pauper format on Magic: Online, but is the Global Economic Crisis so bad that people are resorting to playing Pauper at the Grand Prix? I’m sure it’s just a coincidence...

At Grand Prix Taipei I managed to cover Martin Juza’s match in the last round of day one, and here was again in the feature match area. At least this time, both he and his opponent were undefeated instead of playing for day two. Wind Pang had won one of the Grand Prix Trials run last night, and was certainly putting his three byes to good use.

Juza lead with an Island, while Pang suspended a Rift Bolt. Both players passed their second turns with a second basic land each, Islands on Mountains. “Is it burn? Really?” Juza asked with a sigh. Both players even had matching sleeves for their decks. “It’s like Jace vs Chandra” quipped Brian Kowal from the sidelines.

On his turn Juza suspended an Ancestral Visions, and imprinted a Sower of Temptation on a Chrome Mox. Pang threw him an Incinerate at the end of turn. When Juza went for a Thirst for Knowledge at the end of Pang’s third turn, he wore a Flames of the Blood Hand as well, eliciting a groan from Juza, who untapped and played a tapped Breeding Pool, not wanting to give away any life points he didn’t have to. Juza took a look at Pang’s hand with a Vendilion Clique, seeing plenty of burn to choose from, and was forced to leave his Legendary Faerie on defense in fear of taking a Blinkmoth Nexus about the chops. A Spell Snare countered a Shrapnel Blast, and a Spellstutter Sprite took care of an Incinerate, Mana Leak prevented a Shard Volley from neutralizing the Sprite’s come into play ability. Pang simply untapped and played a Sulfuric Vortex, which took Juza down to 8 life during his upkeep.

With the Spellstutter now holding the fort, the Clique took Pang down to 17. On his turn, Pang resolved a Keldon Marauders, dropping Juza to 7, and then a Mogg Fanatic. Juza sank into the tank in his turn. Now on 5 life and definitely dropping to 4 when the Marauders would eventually expire, he played an Engineered Explosives for two, and swung in again with his Clique. Pang activated one of his two Blinkmoth Nexuses and attacked with the Marauders, the Fanatic and the Nexus. A Mutavault blocked and traded with the Fanatic, while the Explosives nuked both the Marauders and the Spellstutter Sprite, who had at least managed to keep the Nexus away from Juza’s face for the turn. Juza untapped and fell to 2 from the Vortex, but found nothing with which he could use to prevent himself from dying to it next turn, and packed up his cards.

Pang 1 – Juza 0

This time Juza was the first to suspend something, with an Ancestral Visions on his first turn. Pang again had his trusty Rift Bolt. Juza doubled up with another Visions on his second turn, and a tapped Breeding Pool. Pang made a Keldon Marauder on his second turn, that almost ran into a Vendilion Clique when it attacked on the following turn. An Incinerate knocked the Clique aside and Juza chose not to pluck anything out of Pangs hand, leaving him with Hellspark Elemental, Rift Bolt, Shrapnel Blast and Flames of the Bloodhand. When Pang ended his turn with only Mountain, Darksteel Citadel and Blinkmoth Nexus in play, Juza dropped a Venser, Shaper Savant at the end of turn, bouncing the Mountain (and earning him a Flames in the face). He untapped and suiting Venser up with an Umezawa’s Jitte, promptly powering it up by two. A Rift Bolt took Juza down to 5, but with the Jitte accumulating counters, he was quickly moving out of burn range, and it wasn’t long before they were shuffling up for Game 3.

Pang 1 – Juza 1

“I’ll keep,” Pang announced. “That was quick,” Juza replied, before pondering his opener, eventually throwing it back for six. He kept his six just as quickly as Pang had his seven.

Pang charged in on turn one with a Spark Elemental, while Juza merely had an Island. Pang made a turn two Keldon Marauder, to which Juza could only reply “sure,” with a shake of his head. Juza tripled up on his mana on turn two, playing an Island and imprinting a Spellstutter Sprite on a Chrome Mox, before dropping to 12 when Pang attacked with the Marauder and a Blinkmoth Nexus. Juza topped up with an end of turn Thirst for Knowledge, ditching a surplus Chrome Mox. He then played Steam Vents tapped, and countered a Rift Bolt with Flashfreeze. The Nexus flew in again, and was then sacrificed to a Shrapnel Blast, dropping Juza to 5. Juza calmly played a Vedalken Shackles, and then a Mutavault. He Mana Leaked a Sulfuric Vortex before dropping a Vendilion Clique on Pang during his draw step, seeing Spark Elemental, Demonfire, Shard Volley and Lava Spike, the last of which was sent to the back of the class.

Juza then played a Jitte, attached it to his Clique and sent it in to mess with Pang. “One card in hand?” Pang asked, dropping Juza to 1 with Flames of the Blood Hand, but letting the Jitte pick up two counters. Pang untapped and pointed a Shard Volley at the Clique, Juza pumped it twice to keep it alive, but Pang had drawn another one, which he now pointed at Juza. With a shake of his head and a sigh, Juza could only offer his hand in concession, knowing that even if he could stop the second Shard Volley, Pang still had the Spark Elemental in hand.